Residents, leaders blast planned West End Walmart

Residents and community leaders railed against design plans for a suburban-style Wal-Mart in the West End and what they called a lack of government transparency at a forum on the proposed store Friday night.

Louisville Metro Planning and Design officials were slated to speak at the forum at West Chestnut Street Baptist Church but backed out, said the Rev. Gerome Sutton of the African American Think Tank, which organized the event.

"I'm upset the city of Louisville had the unmitigated gall to back out of this at the last minute," Sutton said.

"One of the reasons we did not send any of our planning staff was because the case is pending before our planning department, so it would be inappropriate for us to make a comment outside of that," said Chris Poynter, a spokesman for Mayor Greg Fischer.

Land-use attorney Steve Porter; Martina Kunnecke, director of the group Neighborhood Planning and Preservation; former city planner Cass Herron; and Russell Neighborhood Association President Haren Harrington constituted a panel that took questions during the hour-long forum.

No representative of Wal-Mart was at the meeting and it was not known if one was invited.

The retailer has asked for a variance from the city's land development code, which requires buildings in urban settings be located close to the sidewalk to promote foot and bus traffic. Wal-Mart wants the store set back 400 feet, with a large parking lot in front.

"Wal-Mart is all about control and its own economy," Kunnecke said when asked by an audience member why it applied for the variance.

Louisville city planners have asked Wal-Mart to reduce parking by 20 percent and suggested adding windows or other features to break up the wall on the side of the store facing Dixie Highway.

But the planning officials' absence from the meeting spurred distrust in how the city is handling Wal-Mart's plans.

The company's latest plan includes one concession. It envisions a sidewalk 9 feet wide across the parking lot that resembles one at the the Bashford Manor Shopping Center, company officials have said.

In a report Thursday, planning officials said the retailer should convert 20 percent of the parking lot to open space. The company would have to create a traffic plan to compensate for the lost parking spaces.

Wal-Mart's plan for the facade is not in compliance with the land development code, and the city's proposed changes would help it fit into an "urban, more traditional neighborhood," according to the report.

"You can pull it to the front and put doors and windows on it, but it's still going to be a turd," architect Mark Fox said at the meeting.

But one resident said he just wants a Wal-Mart near his home. "We have to drive 10 miles to get to a Wal-Mart; who cares about 400 feet?" he said.

Reporter Patrick T. Sullivan can be reached at (502) 582-4335 or on Twitter @CJ_PSullivan.